This happened earlier this year, but I just saw this testimony to the Michigan Legislature from a conservative business leader recognizing what our side has always known -- excessive incarceration is an exceptionally expensive waste of tax payer money. Even though prosecutors still don’t seem to get it, rehabilitation works and is cheaper than the locking them away and tossing away the key, I’m glad to see that the business community is starting to see it.

Thankfully, this does not seem to be the case in this election. While there are general references to “protecting Michigan families,” the economy rather than getting tough on crime seems to be the main theme of this election.

The Michigan House has before it House Bill 5600 which will liberalize the standards for granting expungments for juveniles. The Bill will expand the number of adjudications they can have and remove some of the statutory prohibitions on expungment. This a great thing. As we learn more about the juvenile brain, it is clear that they are not mini-adults and are capable of change. As colleges and other institutions have started background checking applicants, our old path was forcing juveniles down the wrong path and towards a “cliff.” HB5600 goes a long way to fixing this problem. Here is a link to our current expungment law.